communications

I recently got the chance to talk shop with Ashland Creek Press and discuss how publicists and social media strategists can help authors reach their readers. Hope you find this Q&A helpful!

Changing the world one book at a time

Ashland Creek Press is dedicated to publishing books with a world view. We’re passionate about the environment, animal protection, ecology, and wildlife, and our goal is to publish books that combine these themes with compelling stories.

Our books have received critical acclaim from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, andKirkus Reviews, among others, and have been recognized by national award juries, including the Chautauqua Institution and the Lambda Literary Foundation.

Authentic, two-way conversations build and sustain relationships on social media—just as they do in the non-virtual world. They are also way, way less annoying. Are you the social media user that talks and talks and never lets followers get a word in edgewise? Let’s see… Take this quiz.

Do you repost or retweet others’ posts?

Do you go into beast mode or share multiple posts at the speed of light?

Do the majority of your social media posts come with a selfie?

Do you sell more than you authentically share on social media?

Let’s be honest: Are all of your social media posts about you?

If you answered NO to question 1 and YES to all the rest, I’m sorry to report that you are a Social Media Stream Hogger. If you answered SOMETIMES to all 5, then you may be on your way to becoming one.

But there’s hope! You can say goodbye to your hogging ways by doing the following.

Repost, retweet, like or reply to others’ posts.

Post throughout the day instead of hijacking your followers’ news streams.

Get selfie control. Remember, not everything is selfie-worthy.

Cut back on your sales tweets. We all love your cat scarves but seeing them every day is going to make us sick of them. Pick a day or two a week to promote your scarves.

Your social media posts should not only be about you. Respected rule of thumb is 70% of your social media posts should be shares of others’ posts and 30% should be original posts by you.